The Cities of Eternal Fog

Walk in darkness, hunt in fog.

Fighting Style Chain Weapons

Prerequisites: Strength ••, Dexterity •••,
Athletics •••

Effect: Your character is trained in the difficult
art of fighting with chain weapons. Chain weapons are
notoriously unpredictable unless mastered — a poorly
skilled fighter is as likely to tangle or cut himself as
he is to harm an opponent. Your character’s training
is likely to have been formalized, having learned the
skill at a martial arts dojo or perhaps in stage combat
for the theater. (Note that a character using chained
weapons who possesses no Dots in this Merit suffers
an automatic –2 to all attack rolls.)

Dots purchased with this Merit allow access to
unique combat maneuvers with chain weapons. Each
maneuver is a prerequisite for the subsequent maneuver.
So, your character cannot have “Hand Bind” until
he has “Impenetrable Defense.” These maneuvers and
their effects are described below. All maneuvers are
based upon the Weaponry Skill.

Impenetrable Defense (•): Your character may
choose not to attack in a given turn, and instead
whirl the chain in the direction of her opponent
(or opponents). During the entire turn, regardless of
Initiative, you may add +2 to your character’s Defense
to deflect incoming blows. Your character also takes
no penalty for defending against multiple opponents
until she faces three attacks. The first and second attacks
made against her cause no negative modifiers to
her Defense.

Hand Bind (••): This defensive maneuver is made
against an incoming attack (Brawl or Weaponry-based).
When a foe attacks with a weapon or with his body, your
character wraps the attacking limb with the chain, grappling
it with a Strength + Weaponry attack. The foe’s Defense is
not subtracted from this roll, but his successes on the attack
roll are. If your character is successful, the limb is bound
with the chain, and the opponent can attempt to escape this
next turn with a Strength + Brawl roll. If the foe achieved
more successes on his attack, his attack is still diminished by
whatever successes you rolled on the Hand Bind roll. This
maneuver must be done on the attacker’s Initiative turn,
and performing this action means your character cannot
make an attack this turn.

Outside Choke (•••): Your character attempts to
wrap the chain around her opponent’s neck. Roll Strength
+ Weaponry. The victim may attempt to free himself on his
next action with a Strength + Brawl roll, which is reduced
by your character’s Strength +1. This maneuver is not to
cause damage or kill the opponent — this maneuver is to
render him unconscious by pressing the chain against the
arteries of his neck, thus halting blood flow to his brain. If
your character is successful on the grapple, she can begin
to choke the victim on the following turn. For every turn
that the choke hold is not broken, the victim suffers an
additional –1 on all rolls to resist. When your character
has accumulated a number of uninterrupted turns equal to
the victim’s Stamina, he falls unconscious. This maneuver,
when complete, causes a single point of bashing damage to
the victim. This combat maneuver is ineffective against
characters who need not breathe.

Whirl and Thrust (••••): Your character at this
level is highly adept at using chains, and can make focused
attacks with any part of the weapon. By whirling
the chain a few times, she can build momentum on a
single attack, which can be made with startling accuracy.
On a targeted attack, you can ignore up to –2 of penalties
associated with directed attacks. In other words, attacks
to an opponent’s torso or limbs are done at no penalty,
attacks the head would be at –1, to the hand –2 and
to the eye –3. Drawback: Your character negates her
Defense for the rest of the turn. If your character has
applied her Defense against any incoming attack before
her turn, she may not perform this maneuver.